Rise & Connect: Where fundraising in Southeast Asia still gets stuck
On 6 October, Auptimate and Aspire brought founders and investors together in Singapore for our latest Rise & Connect: Breakfast for Investors & Founders.
The morning centred on one question: What needs to be fixed about fundraising in Southeast Asia?
Moderated by Olivier Too, Co-Founder & CEO of Auptimate, the panel brought together Grace Sai, Co-Founder & CEO of Unravel Carbon, for the founder perspective, and Toby Berger, Founding Member & Chair of Southeast Asia at XA Network and Co-Founder of Vigil AI, for the investor perspective.
Where does fundraising get stuck?
Over breakfast, the panel explored the points where fundraising can lose momentum, from building investor conviction to moving from initial conversations towards a cheque.
Grace and Toby approached the discussion from opposite sides of the table, looking at what founders can do to strengthen their fundraising process and what investors need to see before committing capital.
The conversation also examined the red flags investors sometimes overlook when momentum or FOMO takes over, and the traits that can make founders stand out during a raise.
Does every startup need a regional story?
The panel then turned to one of Southeast Asia’s most persistent fundraising questions: How much does regional expansion really matter?
Southeast Asia is often presented as a single growth opportunity, but each market comes with different customers, regulations and operating realities.
The discussion explored whether investors would back a company that dominates one market without yet proving regional expansion, and when founders should prioritise depth in one market rather than expansion across several.
What happens after an investor says yes?
An investor saying “I’m in” does not mean the capital is already in the bank.
The final part of the panel focused on what happens between investor interest and closing, including maintaining momentum, creating urgency and agreeing on what needs to happen before founders can confidently count a commitment.
The audience Q&A continued the conversation before the morning moved into networking and introductions between founders and investors.
Thank you to Grace Sai, Toby Berger and Olivier Too, our co-host Aspire, and everyone who joined us for breakfast and contributed to the discussion.
